Zimbabwe President Robert
Mugabe's government gave notice on Thursday it wasalmost doubling state
spending for this year, in a move that economists saidwould accelerate the
collapse of the economy already reeling from
galacticinflation.

Finance minister Herbert Murerwa tabled a
supplementary budget in parliamentof 670-billion Zimbabwe dollars
(US$110-million at the "parallel" exchangerate), bringing total spending for
the year to an astronomical 1 442-billionZimbabwe dollars
(US$240-million).

The original 2003 budget of 720-billion Zimbabwe
dollars (US$120-million)had been exhausted, Murerwa said. "The allocations
have not accommodated allthe financial demands of the government," he said.
"The resources are simplynot there."

Almost half of the new money --
311-billion Zimbabwe dollars(US$51-million) -- is due to be spent on paying
just-increased governmentwages until the end of the year, he
said.

Murerwa said that inflation -- at 399,5% for the year to July
according toan official announcement this week -- was the central problem
facing theeconomy.

"I believe that it is important that our policies
must fight inflation," hesaid.

"Continued failure to do so threatens
to destroy the very social fabric ofthe nation."

However, he proposed
no clear remedy to deal with the problem, apart fromhinting at devaluation
-- which he referred to as the "export supportrate" -- and saying that a
dual interest rate system -- with lower rates forthe productive sectors and
higher rates for consumer spending -- would beintroduced
"soon".

Economists say the supplementary budget marks a new low point in
the declineof what was once one of the most robust and diverse economies in
Africa,ruined by reckless economic policies, the illegal seizure of white
ownedfarms that were the dynamo of the economy and international isolation
overMugabe's abandonment of the rule of law.

Gross domestic product
has plunged 30% in the last three years. In the lastthree months the value
of the currency has halved to 6 000 Zimbabwe dollarsper single US
dollar.

The United Nations last month listed Zimbabwe at 91 in a ranking
of 94 ThirdWorld countries. Murerwa referred to "the sanctions the economy
is under,following the withdrawal of international donor support, as well as
thedrying up of foreign lines of credit".

International financial
organisations have cut off financial aid because ofthe regime's ballooning
debt arrears and its failure to carry out anymeasures to arrest the
collapse.

"It's is inflationary and very unrealistic," said independent
economist TonyHawkins. "There is no mention of any new measures, except that
they mightadjust the exchange rate.

"There's no inflation forecast,
no growth forecast, no policies, nothing.Just assurances that things will
get better, as an act of faith. It showsthey have no idea of where to
go."

Murerwa told parliament that the economy's problems were
"notinsurmountable.

"Many countries within and outside the region
have gone through similarexperiences, and have successfully resolved these
challenges," he said.

Said Hawkins: "The whole budget is the workings of
inflation. They are goingto spend virtually twice as much and they are going
to get twice as muchrevenue, purely because of inflation.

"On the one
hand he wants to take steps to check inflation, but on the otherhand we are
going to have an even bigger budget deficit."

Murerwa promised "further
measures" to clamp down on illegal foreigncurrency dealing, and threatened
commercial banks with "stiffer penalties"for trading in hard currency below
the fixed official rate of 824 Zimbabwedollars to a single US
dollar.

He referred to the critical shortage of bank notes that have
forcedthousands of people to queue -- often for days -- to try and withdraw
theirsalaries from banks.

The government last month said it would
introduce a 1 000 Zimbabwe dollarnote, the highest denominations, but today
Murerwa said the regime wouldconsider "the introduction of even high
denominations." - Sapa-DPA

Given Zanu PF's
prominent record for manipulating food relief in order to achieve political
objectives, the MDC is deeply concerned by the Mugabe regime's announcement that
all relief agencies have to surrender food aid to village headmen and rural
councils. Both are dominated by Zanu, a factor which betrays a potentially
sinister political agenda which has influenced this u-turn in policy. The
announcement revokes an previous commitment that allowed donor agencies to
distribute food aid independently.

The timing of the announcement,
ten days prior to council elections, raises the very real prospect that Zanu PF
are likely to deploy a crude 'food for votes' tactic in a desperate attempt to
deliver a credible performance at the polls. Given that most ordinary
Zimbabweans know that Zanu PF's mismanagement of the economy is to blame for the
cash, fuel and food shortages that are paralysing the country, Zanu is under no
illusions that its candidates would get trounced in a free and fair poll. Recent
incidents of state sponsored violence in areas where polling is scheduled to
take place and evidence of Zanu PF illegally registering candidates after the
official termination of the registration period are a clear demonstration of the
Zanu PF's fear of being humiliated at the polls.

If Zanu PF adopts
the cynical tactic of manipulating food aid in return for votes not only will
this provide further confirmation that the party has lost all popular support,
it would also provide unequivocal evidence that the party simply does not care
about the suffering of ordinary Zimbabweans. By manipulating the food aid
distribution process in return for afew votes Zanu PF would put in jeopardy the
whole humanitarian relief programme in Zimbabwe. Donors would cut their aid to
the country leaving millions of ordinary Zimbabweans facing the very real threat
of starvation.

For the sake of the people of Zimbabwe we urge Zanu PF
not to go down this route. Zanu PF should wake up to the fact that coercion and
bribery will not be enough to save them from defeat in the forthcoming polls. In
the eyes of the people they have failed to deliver and have no solutions to the
daily hardships afflicting the majority of Zimbabweans. Enough is enough.

Rensen GaselaShadow Minister of
Agriculture

Notes To
Editors:

1. In the local elections
of September 2002, 'food for votes' was a central tenet of the Zanu PF
campaign. 2. During the Insiza by-election of October 2002 the UN World Food
Programme suspended food relief efforts in the constituency after Zanu
PF officials illegally seized food. During polling day Zanu PF officials
were handing out food outside polling stations. 3. In July 2002,
Abednico Ncube, Zimbabwe's Deputy Foreign Minister, warned the people of
Matabeleland that they would not receive food aid unless they renounced
their support for the MDC.

THE United Nations’
World Food Programme (WFP) has ordered itsimplementing partners to stop
distributing food to starving Zimbabweans ifthe government insists on giving
village headmen the responsibility ofdistributing donor-funded food, the
Daily News has established.

Meanwhile, the European Union (EU),
a major supporter of humanitarianefforts in Zimbabwe, yesterday indicated
that it was studying the impact ofthe government directive to determine if
it would hamper food distribution.

The government last week
ordered relief agencies to surrender food aidto village headmen for
distribution to food-insecure communities, despiteearlier promises by
President Robert Mugabe to the WFP that the agencieswould be allowed to
operate independently.

Under the new directive,
non-governmental organisations (NGOs)’feeding programmes would now be
harmonised with the government-run publicworks programme.

But according to an instruction sent out by the WFP to itsimplementing
partners this week and obtained by this newspaper, the UN foodagency
instructed NGOs to stop all feeding programmes if local authoritiesinsisted
on distributing food aid.

Feeding programmes, the organisation
said, would only resume after thegovernment clarified its role in
donor-driven food aid initiatives.

However, feeding programmes
would continue where village headmen didnot insist on implementing the new
government directive, the WFP instructionsaid.

“If there is
full agreement with the authorities that distribution cancontinue according
to the modalities previously in effect, then WFP fieldmonitors should be
present at any distribution, even if this means that thenumber of FDP (Food
Distribution Points) to be supplied be reduced,” theinstruction reads in
part.

“If not, then the distribution itself should be postponed
until wehave received appropriate clarification,” the WFP
added.

WFP spokesman Luis Clemens yesterday said his
organisation still“maintains a zero tolerance policy on political
interference indonor-provided food aid”, adding that a number of
international donors hadalready expressed concern over the new government
directive.

Clemens said WFP officials had met Social Welfare
Minister July Moyoon Wednesday to seek clarification on the
directive.

“WFP is concerned about several issues raised in
this new governmentdirective. WFP met yesterday (Wednesday) with the
Minister of PublicService, Labour and Social Welfare and expressed our
concerns. WFP informedthe minister that several donors had contacted us and
expressed theirworries, as well.

“The minister said he is
planning to have a meeting with donors,” saidClemens.

Clemens said Moyo had not consulted food donors before coming up withthe
directive.

“Neither the WFP management nor the UN Humanitarian
Co-ordinator havebeen consulted prior to the introduction of the policy,
which we believewould represent major changes in the operational modalities
for thedistribution of food aid under general distribution,” he
said.

Moyo could not be reached for comment yesterday, but said
on Mondaythat the government had the right to distribute food because it
hadrequested the food aid from donors.

The government has
asked for 700 000 tonnes of food to feed about 5.5million people estimated
by UN agencies to be in need of emergency food aid.

But donors
have indicated in the past that they are not willing toprovide food that
would be distributed by the ZANU PF government, which isaccused of denying
food aid to supporters of the opposition.

Before the latest
government directive, NGOs involved in reliefefforts could use their own
criteria to select beneficiaries of theirprogrammes. The organisations would
also physically distribute the food.

However, according to the
new policy directive, the NGOs would have tosurrender their food to village
headmen, who would be responsible forchoosing the beneficiaries as well as
physically distributing the food.

According to sources within
the donor community, the move causedwidespread alarm because it could lead
to international donors cutting offsupplies to Zimbabwe. The European
Commission, the executive arm of the EU,a major supporter of relief efforts
in the country, indicated yesterday thatit was studying closely the impact
of the new rules and would be concernedif they hampered its operations in
the country. “We’re aware of some changesto the law in Zimbabwe, and we do
have some food aid operations in Zimbabwethat are ongoing,” commission
spokesman Michael Mann was quoted as saying inthe foreign Press reports
yesterday. “We would be very concerned if therewas some sort of a move to
hamper ourselves and people like the World FoodProgramme from distributing
food aid which is a vital service to the peoplethere.” He added: “We’re
assessing exactly what this law means when it comesinto force and what it
will mean for us.” The European Commission hasalready pledged 25 million
euros (Z$20.6 billion at the official exchangerate) in response to
Zimbabwe’s appeal for food. By Farai Mutsaka ChiefReporter

NEARLY two million
Zimbabweans, or 24.6 percent of the country’s 11million population, are
living with HIV/AIDS, according to Health MinisterDavid
Parirenyatwa.

Speaking at the launch of the Zimbabwe National
HIV/AIDS Estimates2003 report, the minister said the number of people living
with the diseasehad dropped from last year’s estimate of 33 percent of the
population.

Parirenyatwa said the estimates were based on data
collected fromwomen attending ante-natal clinics, adding that the figures
still neededfurther verification.

He said the data was
collected through stratification of urban andrural areas, growth points and
mining areas.

“More data and further surveys will be required
to validate this,” hesaid.

According to statistics issued
yesterday, out of an estimated 1.82million people living with HIV/AIDS
countrywide, 1.54 million are adultswithin the 15-49 age group, 870 000 are
women and 165 000 are children.

“We are at the epicentre of the
epidemic because of high estimatesthat were generated by UNAIDS in Geneva,
Switzerland, and now, withcollaboration from the Centre for Disease Control,
World HealthOrganisation, UNAIDS and other partners, we (have become) the
first countryto generate its own HIV and AIDS estimates locally,” he
said.

Parirenyatwa added: “We decided to give our people an
accurate figurearrived at scientifically because haphazard figures have not
done thecountry any good. Today, we announce that national HIV and AIDS
prevalenceamong the adult population is now down to 24.6
percent.

“These estimates are based primarily on surveillance
data collectedfrom pregnant women (15-49 years) attending our ante-natal
clinics, on theassumption that HIV prevalence in this group sampled at the
clinics issimilar to the prevalence of the rest of men and women of the same
group inthe community. “

Meanwhile, International Labour
Organisation (ILO) director forSouthern Africa, Ullrich Flechsenhar, this
week told representatives ofemployers, labour and government to intensify
internal efforts to raisefunds for HIV/AIDS prevention and capacity building
because donors were notkeen to assist due to the political crisis in
Zimbabwe.

Flechsenhar said the country should not expect much
funding frominternational donors because the political and economic
situation inZimbabwe had deteriorated.

“The ILO is not a
donor organisation, but we will facilitate thefunding of your project action
plans,” he said.

“What l am saying is not any political
statement, but it’s a basicfact. Some donors will continue to shy away from
disbursing funds to certaincountries, including Zimbabwe, for a period of
time because the situationhas remained critical. You have my full support,
though.”

He was addressing delegates at a meeting organised by
the ILOsub-regional office in Harare to develop action plans to implement
theZimbabwe transport sector HIV/AIDS policy, which was finalised in
June.

In its appeal to the United Nations for food aid in July,
the Zimbabwegovernment indicated that it would need US$3 million ($2.472
billion) toimport anti-retroviral drugs for people living with
HIV/AIDS.

Nearly half, $311 billion, of the supplementary budget tabled beforethe
House will go towards the government’s huge wage bill, following theawarding
of hefty salary increases to the “executive, judiciary andlegislature as
well as staff in other public sector institutions” in July.

Murerwa said the domestic banking sector would once again finance mostof the
budget deficit, which stood at $230 billion – or 11.5 percent ofGDP – when
he presented this year’s budget last November.

He said the
government would have to borrow $195 billion from thebanking sector to
finance the deficit, while the non-banking sector wouldcontribute $45
billion and the remaining $61 billion would come from theReserve Bank of
Zimbabwe’s statutory reserves.

The $672 billion supplementary,
together with the 2003 national budgetwill bring the government’s total
expenditure for this year to $1.44trillion.

Murerwa,
however, said the government’s revenue would increase by$600.8 billion, from
the $540.5 billion projected last year, bringing to$1.1 trillion total
revenue for this year.

He said this would minimise the budget
deficit.

“The increase in revenue is benefiting from
economy-wide wageincreases effected from the second half of the financial
year, Murerwa toldParliament.

He added: “Furthermore,
adoption of the export support rate forcustoms duty purposes, coupled with
the removal of price controls on mostitems, are also contributing towards
improved revenue.”

According to Murerwa, revenue collection in
the first half of thisyear, at $343.4 billion, was 48 percent above target,
while totalexpenditure at $411.9 billion was 12 percent lower than expected
as a resultof shortages of goods and services, fuel and foreign
currency.

The government will set aside $73.7 billion for the
AgricultureMinistry, of which $45 billion will go towards crop inputs for
the comingagriculture season. An additional $60 billion will be made
available fromthe newly-reconstituted Agriculture Development Bank, which
will itselfreceive $5.5 billion for capitalisation.

The
Finance Minister said agriculture, which has experienced a slumpin the past
three years, was projected to recover by 2.3 percent this year.

Murerwa said 900 000 households countrywide would experience fooddeficits
between October and the next harvest in April 2004, and thegovernment would
set aside $27 billion for food aid.

A total of $48.4 billion
was set aside for the Health and ChildWelfare Ministry in the supplementary
budget, with $29.5 billion goingtowards the procurement of drugs and other
hospital supplies.

The government has continuously failed to
reduce its recurrentexpenditure and yesterday, Murerwa said about $47.7
billion would be setaside to fund ongoing capital programmes such as dam
construction,irrigation development and development of airports, among other
things.

Other ministries that received huge allocations in the
supplementbudget are Finance, allocated $104.4 billion, Defence and Home
Affairs, $47billion and $45.9 billion respectively, Education Sport and
Culture, $153billion, and Public Service, which got $35.2
billion.

According to the Finance Minister, the government has
taken a decisionto deregulate the fuel sector under a dual pricing system
and Amos Midzi,the Energy and Power Development Minister, will shortly issue
a statement tothis effect.

Murerwa, who last November
projected that inflation would come down to96 percent by the end of this
year said inflation would remain high, erodingincomes and rendering
valueless individual savings.

He said high money supply growth
of 226 percent in April, foreigncurrency shortages and a decline in GDP were
among the major drivers ofinflation, which rose 399.5 percent in the year to
July.

Although he did not say how the government would fight
inflation,Murerwa said the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe would announce a new
monetarypolicy soon.

High inflation has been blamed for cash
shortages and Murerwa said thegovernment was reviewing the bank notes
situation and might issue “evenhigher” denominations of notes. Business
Reporter

HIGH
Court judge Justice Moses Chinhengo yesterday threw out anapplication by
Registrar-General Tobaiwa Mudede to set aside a judgment byJustice Lavender
Makoni last year ordering him to surrender all materialused in the 2002
presidential election for safekeeping.

Justice Makoni had
ordered Mudede to transport to Harare all ballotboxes, ballot papers and
other relevant material used during the March 2002presidential poll when she
granted a provisional order sought by oppositionleader Morgan
Tsvangirai.

Dismissing the application with costs, Chinhengo
said Mudede, who wasrepresented by Loyce Matanda-Moyo of the
Attorney-General (AG)’s Office(civil division), had failed to proffer
convincing reasons why the courtshould rescind Justice Makoni’s
ruling.

In his 30 October 2002 application, Tsvangirai, through
his lawyerBryant Elliot of Gill Godlonton and Gerrans, said he had
reasonable fearsthat Mudede was not complying with Section 78 of the
Electoral Act, whichdeals with the security of election
residue.

He said Mudede had caused “material prejudice” in the
Movement forDemocratic Change (MDC)’s election petition to have the results
of thepresidential election set aside.

He said the
documents were “central to the allegations ofirregularities and corrupt
practices” referred to in his election petition.

In his application for recision of Justice
Makoni’s judgment, Mudedesaid he could not comply with Justice Makoni’s
order because his office didnot have money to transport the requested
election material to Harare. Hesaid he had applied for funding from the
government.

He said he intended to file opposing papers to
Tsvangirai’sapplication, but the papers were lost in the registry at the
AG’s office.

Tsvangirai’s lawyer argued that the application
for recision was meantto frustrate the MDC leader and prevent him from
examining the requestedelection material in Harare.

“In
turn, this frustrates and severely prejudices the respondent(Tsvangirai) in
bringing the election petition,” Elliot said in his heads
ofargument.

He said Mudede knew as far back as 12 September
2002 about Tsvangirai’s interest in the ballot papers and should have made
arrangements from thenfor the transmission to and storage of the material in
Harare in compliancewith Section 78(3) of the Electoral
Act.

“The transmission of the papers to Harare is not, in my
view, afunction outside the ambit of the applicant (Mudede)’s functions,”
Elliotsaid.

MATOBO
– Draped in a cheap blanket, the woman’s emaciated body iswracked by spasms
as she coughs. She is still for a moment as if she is in atrance or the
breath has left her body, then slowly she opens her eyesrevealing dilated
pupils that are as white as snow.

As distressing as the sight
might be, it is one that has become commonat many homesteads in rural
Matabeleland South, where the AIDS pandemic hasblazed a trail through
several families, leaving thousands of orphans in itswake.

Anti-AIDS activists partly attribute the high incidence of HIVinfection in
the area to the unemployment that is forcing a large number ofmales to cross
the border to neighbouring South Africa and Botswana insearch of
jobs.

The job seekers – some of who are married and are forced
to leavetheir wives behind – contract HIV from their adopted countries,
whoseinfection rates are among the highest in the world, bringing the
infectionback home with them.

In Matobo district in
Matabeleland South, the unfolding humancatastrophe has prompted the Red
Cross Society of Zimbabwe to launch ahome-based care, feeding, water and
sanitation programme to assist thoseinfected by HIV or affected by the
pandemic.

Although it is restricted to only a small part of the
vastMatabeleland South province, the programme already has 13 000 “clients”,
theterm the Geneva-based international humanitarian organisation uses
todescribe AIDS patients.

About 780 children orphaned by
AIDS are also receiving assistance fromthe humanitarian agency, which is
working in only five of the 20 wards inMatobo district. The Red Cross is
assisting 119 000 people affected byHIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe – 72 000 of these
are HIV-positive and the rest areorphans, some of who are also infected with
the virus that causes AIDS.

Since the Red Cross’ Matobo
programme began at the end of 2002, anestimated 5.7 tonnes of food have been
distributed to people whose plighthas been worsened by the severe food
shortages affecting Zimbabwe.

Among the families being assisted
by the Red Cross is one headed by70-year-old Gogo Simangaliphi Ndlovu at
Shumbeshabe Village in Natisa. Sixadults in the family have died from
AIDS-related illnesses, leaving nineyoung orphans in the care of the old
woman.

Harvests in the area have been meagre in the past two
years because ofdrought and serious farming input shortages. Meanwhile, most
villagers areunable to buy commercially produced grain because it is in
short supply andwhatever is available is too expensive for
them.

The food shortages have worsened the plight of families
who arealready struggling because of the impact of the AIDS
pandemic.

“We sometimes go for days without food,” Ndlovu says.
“It is verydifficult, especially for the children and my
stepdaughter.”

One of the orphans, a nine-year-old boy, is
himself frail because hewas born with the HIV virus.

In one
of the huts at the homestead lies Gogo Ndlovu’s stepdaughter,widowed when
her husband died of an AIDS-related illness, leaving her tocare for their
only child.

The child is one of the nine who are now the
responsibility of GogoNdlovu, whose stepdaughter cannot assist in caring for
them because she isnow in the final stages of the disease.

For those children who do not have relatives to take them in, RedCross
Zimbabwe is financing Ethandweni Children’s home, which takes care
ofchildren orphaned by AIDS in the district.

The home cares
for 34 children. The youngest is one year old and theoldest
19.

Birthe Kristensen, the principal of the home, says one of
the battleEthandweni is fighting is to discourage the stigmatisation by
localcommunities of children and women who have been orphaned or widowed
byHIV/AIDS.

The home is attempting to re-integrate the
children in its care backinto Matobo society. Already, those orphans of
school-going age are beingsent to nearby government
schools.

“Our selection criteria are very stringent because
there are manydeserving cases in the district. We work very closely with the
community,”said Kristensen.

Red Cross communications officer
Varaidzo Dongozi says herorganisation plans to consolidate its food aid,
home-based care and watersanitation programme in an attempt to reach as many
people living with AIDSas possible in Matobo. In an attempt to effectively
cater for householdsaffected by AIDS, the organisation is forced to screen
out food-insecurepeople who are not directly affected by the pandemic.
“Although we sometimesget people who are not HIV-positive benefiting from
our programme, we try asmuch as possible to screen them,” Dongozi said.
Because of severe shortagesof petrol and diesel in Zimbabwe, the government
has allowed the Red Crossto import its own fuel so that it can distribute
food under the programme.As well as providing food to householders living
with AIDS, the Red Crossalso tries to instil in its clients the importance
of nutritious food, whichis cheaper than anti-retroviral drugs. The Red
Cross’ Matobo programme alsoemphasises hygienic habits. “An area of the
fight against AIDS which hasbeen neglected is the area of hygiene and good
sanitation,” acting Red Crosspresident Jimmy Gazi pointed out. He added that
a recent survey had shownthat 30 percent of the opportunistic infections
that affect people infectedwith HIV are due to poor hygiene. From Chris
Gande Senior Reporter

DISTRESS calls by
Zimbabwe’s mining and manufacturing sectorsindicating that they face
collapse unless the government urgently devaluesthe local currency should be
a clear signal of the folly of continuing withprice and exchange rate
controls.

Exporters want the Zimbabwe dollar devalued by about
118 percent to $1800 against the American greenback, barely eight months
after the statefixed the exchange rate at $824 to the US
dollar.

Also on the recommendation of industry. Now the same
business sectoris complaining that the exchange rate is no longer viable due
to the hugegap between Zimbabwe’s inflation rate and that of its major
tradingpartners, as well as the country’s worsening operating
environment.

The Chamber of Mines has already met Mines
Minister EdwardChindori-Chininga to alert him of looming disaster in the
troubled sectorunless the government reviews the exchange
rate.

The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries has also
submittedrecommendations to the government, reportedly urging it to devalue
thedollar to save businesses from collapsing.

Tormented
Zimbabweans would clearly want the government, which lovesto react to crises
rather than prevent them, to swiftly move for once toavert disaster by
devaluing the dollar.

It may cost a few more votes, but it is a
bitter pill the governmentmust swallow.

But not that on its
own, devaluation of the dollar, or even totallylifting exchange controls,
will be the panacea to the problems industry andthe economy in general are
facing.

Rather, the solution lies in the government coming to
terms withreality by addressing the causes and not the symptoms of the
crisis.

Distortions in the exchange rate and the thriving
foreign currencyparallel market are merely a reflection of the acute
shortage of hard cashin the country, itself a result of the government’s
ruinous economic andland policies that scared foreign capital and investors
out of Zimbabwe.

It is not too late for the government to
revisit and revise itschaotic land reform programme that has all but
destroyed the country’sbiggest foreign currency earning sector,
agriculture.

The government would also be better served if it
began to live withinits means in order to reduce the budget deficit, the
chief cause of Zimbabwe’s ballooning inflation.

Inflation,
now pegged at 399.5 percent, is threatening the viabilityof the mining,
tobacco and manufacturing sectors that depend on foreignsuppliers for
machinery, spares, chemicals and some raw materials.

Unfortunately, the government does not appear prepared or willing toabandon
its wayward spending, if Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa’s requestfrom
Parliament yesterday for $657.8 billion in more spending money isanything to
go by.

But more critically, the ruling ZANU PF party and the
government musturgently seek a political settlement with the opposition
Movement forDemocratic Change that will allow this country to return to
democracy inorder to entice Zimbabwe’s key donors, trading and development
partners torelease aid critically needed to revive the
economy.

Tinkering with the exchange rate or seizing more land
from productivefarmers in the name of a dubious economic and agrarian reform
programme isjust not good enough to save Zimbabwe from certain economic and
socialdisaster.

IT must have been a day in the late 1980s when people wereassembling for a
demonstration in the Harare city centre – do you rememberwhat those were?
Without teargas and beatings from the riot police – or itmay have been a
public prayer.

Certainly, most of the churches were involved.
The aim was to protestand to pray for peace and justice in South Africa and,
if I rememberrightly, for the victims of apartheid attacks here in
Zimbabwe.

Groups from several different churches had already
arrived at theassembly place and we were all waiting for the others. Some of
them weresinging as they approached.

We heard voices
singing something about how Jesus founded thepriesthood to carry on his
work. And someone said “A! VaRoma vasvika”. True,with that song it could not
be anyone else. But was I the only one who
feltuncomfortable?

I am not criticising only one church.
Many of them do somethingsimilar. In this case, a group of church people
chose not to sing a songabout justice, God’s love for us all (which is the
root of our search forjustice) or about us all as the one family of God,
although they were goingto join in common cause for justice with members of
other churches.

They chose a song that marked their church as
different from all theothers. They were stating their separate identity.
It’s not only thechurches who do this. Very many people, when you ask them
what they are,will prefer to say what they are not.

They
are members of the Apostolic Faith, which means they are againstthe Pope and
his followers; they are supporters of Dynamos, which means theyare against
CAPS United and Black Rhinos; they are supporters of ZANU-PF,which means
they are most emphatically not MDC and hate anything thatcarries that label,
even if it is only their own ZANU-PF leaders who tellthem “So-and-so is
MDC”.

This is very dangerous. Labelling yourself as “Not
such-and-such”makes it easier to see such-and-such as the enemy and to fall
into anattitude that says “whoever is not for us is against
us”.

Some political parties do this to make their supporters
line up behindthem without questioning, shouting slogans, beating opponents
and doingeverything else we know.

It works in the
short-term if your aim is to dominate absolutely andmake the other side give
in to you on every point, but that only provokesyour opponents to build up
their strength until they can hit back at youeffectively.

You have started a cycle of violence, and it will roll on until itcrushes
you and everybody else.

But real life isn’t a game where the
winner takes all. If we are tolive in peace with each other, everyone must
see that they win something,even if it is only a very small prize.
Intelligent politicians see this.

I am constantly surprised
that the churches, or people of anyreligious persuasion, fall so easily into
the same trap, defining themselvesby what they are not, which means opposing
“the others”, whoever thoseothers might be.

They are only
making their members see divisions, when surely allreligions teach us that
we are all children of the one God?

Jesus, in particular, made
a point of welcoming the outsiders, thepeople excluded by the rules made by
pious believers. I can’t understandwhen I see his followers behaving so
differently, defining themselves by whothey exclude.

I am
still shocked when I see a wedding ceremony where one of thepartners is not
allowed to share communion because they don’t belong to theright
church.

Isn’t a wedding about what unites the couple? If we
make divisions inthe wedding celebration itself, how are we going to build
united families?

Incidentally, even the Pope recently gave
communion to Tony Blairbecause Mr and Mrs B came together to Mass at the
Vatican. She is aCatholic, he is not, but John Paul saw the unity of their
family as theimportant thing. Even his friends admit he is rather
conservative, so howcan his followers not follow him on
this?

Then, just to show how deep the spirit of division goes,
many peoplecannot converse with the clergy without asking them to repeat how
differentthey are from other churches. I recently heard a young man trying
to makeconversation with a priest (not Anglican).

He asked:
“What do you think of the Anglican church ordaining a gaybishop?” The priest
replied,very sensibly I thought: “I don’t think of it. Ihave enough problems
of my own.”

That seems to me the sensible, Christian and
constructive approach. Ihope that if the Anglican church had asked that
priest to help them sort outtheir problem, he would have done his best. But
when a member of his ownchurch is only looking for the familiar sense that
“We are different fromthem”, and that usually implies better than them, he
would not meddle insomeone else’s problem. We have seen too much intolerance
in the name ofGod, who, we are told, is love. History has seen too much
killing in thename of God: crusades, pogroms, jihads over the centuries, and
it continuestoday: Catholic against Protestant, Hindu against Muslim, Muslim
againstChristian. Even some Buddhists, who are supposed to be the most
dedicated topeace, kill their opponents. If the preachers of peace and unity
behave likethis, are you surprised that politicians don’t hear the peaceful
message?“Don’t do what I do, do what I tell you” is not very credible
preaching. ByMagari Mandevu Magari Mandevu is a social commentator

FIVE
of Zimbabwe’s major parastatals recorded losses amounting to$30.4 billion in
2002, or 75 percent of the Agriculture Ministry’s 2003total budget,
according to statistics from the government that show publiccompanies
continuing to gobble up huge state subsidies.

The statistics
were made available to the International Monetary Fund(IMF) by the
Zimbabwean government, which rarely publicises the financialresults of its
parastatals.

They are contained in a report published by the
IMF at the end of lastmonth and made available to the Business Daily this
week.

According to the statistics quoted in the report, the
Grain MarketingBoard recorded a deficit of $14.4 billion in 2002, which was
equivalent to1.4 percent of Zimbabwe’s gross domestic product (GDP), given
in the reportas $1.2 trillion.

GDP is the total goods and
services produced in a country in a year.

The government’s
figures show that the state-owned, Midlands-basedsteel manufacturer Zimbabwe
Iron and Steel Company (ZISCO) also posted aloss of $9.5 billion in
2002.

The national power utility, the Zimbabwe Electricity
Supply Authority(ZESA), as well as the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ)
and meatprocessor Cold Storage Company (CSC) incurred losses of $1.1
billion, $2.1billion and $3.2 billion respectively.

The
total loss for the five parastatals, which was $30.4 billion,amounted to 75
percent of the total agriculture budget allocated this year.

The Ministry of Agriculture was allocated $40.5 billion this year, butwas
expected to be allocated more money in a supplementary budget presentedto
Parliament yesterday.

The ministry is spearheading the
government’s controversial landreform programme, which kicked off in 2000,
and which analysts say has notbeen adequately funded.

However, the government says agriculture will drive the recovery ofthe
country’s economy, which is in its fourth year ofrecession.

The
GMB and ZISCO have been a perennial drain on the national fiscus,despite
repeated attempts by the government to rescue the firms
fromcollapse.

The GMB, which ran a $4.5 billion loss in
2001, was last solvent inthe 1995/96 July-June financial year, when it
chalked up a profit of $29million.

The last profit for
ZISCO, of $97 million, was posted during thefiscal and calendar year ended
31 December 1999.

The two parastatals, together with the CSC
and NRZ, have over the pastfew years struggled to maintain clean balance
sheets, surviving on rescuepackages from the Treasury.

The
CSC was $1.5 billion in the red during the period of January toDecember
2001, while ZISCO suffered a loss of $4.1 billion during the
sameperiod.

The GMB, which enjoys a monopoly in the buying
and selling of grain inZimbabwe, is saddled with a more than $13 billion
debt, part of which isowed by the government.

The state-run
GMB’s position was worsened by the government’s decisionlast year to allow
it to sell grain at a loss, in a populist move that wassupposed to protect
consumers.

In the past, the parastatal has been kept afloat by
state-guaranteedgrain bills, which have not been issued so far this
year.

Despite the losses of state-owned firms, Finance Minister
HerbertMurerwa indicated in June that privatisation of loss-making
parastatals wasnot a priority for the government because it was not in the
nationalinterest.

This was despite his assurances to the nation
last November that theprivatisation process would be speeded up. The
Privatisation Agency ofZimbabwe last year abandoned its plans to raise $40.9
billion through thedisposal of loss-making entities, with only $462 million
being realised fromthe disposal of government shareholdings in some entities
by September lastyear. The $462 million was raised from the disposal of
stakes in CAPSHoldings Limited, the Zimbabwe Reinsurance Company, Zimchem
Refineries andMunyathi Mining Limited. ZESA, one of the country’s largest
parastatals, isstill in the process of unbundling its operations and is
battling foreigncurrency shortages that have seen it being switched off by
regional powersuppliers earlier this year. The government plans to sell 50
percent of itsshares in the coal-fired Hwange Power Station and Kariba Power
Station, butanalysts have long doubted its commitment to the venture.
Economist JohnRobertson said there was no way the government could extricate
theloss-making parastatals from their position unless it disposed of them.
Mostof the state-owned firms have been hit hard by foreign currency
shortagesand can no longer import spare parts or replace obsolete
machinery.Robertson said the fact that Zimbabwe had lost its international
creditrating meant that its parastatals could no longer secure international
loanscritical for their operations. “The government has no other way out of
this.It’s either they sell or continue to use taxpayers’ money to
subsidiseparastatals,” he told the Business Daily. By MacDonald Dzirutwe
BusinessEditor

At last, the people who receive and treat victims of
politicalviolence in Zimbabwe have spoken and ZANU PF is in a terrible state
of panicas a result of that.

I would like to say well done
to the Zimbabwe Doctors’ Association forHuman Rights for speaking out on the
cases of human rights abuse. Do not beintimidated by the ZANU PF propaganda
machine because there is nothingpolitical about you telling the world what
you see and attend to on a dailybasis. You are the people who receive
victims of all the violence that goeson in the country whether they come to
you dead or alive.

The reaction of ZANU PF, through its
mouthpiece ZBC, during newshouron the 20th of August was enough to show the
whole world how much they arepanicking because of the power of your
evidence.

As for Ngugi Wa Mirii’s comments over the phone, all
I can say is thatpeople like Ngugi should just shut up if they have nothing
to say and notwaste our time.

The fact that there were
human rights abuses during Smith’s time anddoctors never said anything does
not mean that today’s doctors should notspeak out on today’s abuses, Mr
Ngugi. Wa Mirii should really be ashamed ofhimself for saying something so
stupid on national television.

And for ZBC, next time please
can you make sure that the listenershear the questions that your reporters
ask the people on the streets. We aretired of hearing people say things out
of context because you want them toair their views in line with what you
want them to say.

Some of us are well aware of your tricks and
do not think that you aregetting away with it.

It was
obvious that the question that people were responding to duringnewshour on
the 20th of August was phrased something like this: “What do youthink about
doctors’ involvement in politics?” or “Do you think it is rightfor doctors
to be involved in politics?”

ZBC, don’t think that you can fool
all of us.

To the Zimbabwe Doctors’ Association for Human
Rights, I say continuethe good work, expose whichever political party
violates human rights.

About two months ago, all education
stakeholders met and agreed thatteachers’ salaries need to be
adjusted.

Even the President announced at a rally in Mhondoro
that teachers’salaries were going to be reviewed.

But
student teachers have since received the shock of their lives.Instead of
having their salaries increased, they were actually reduced by$400. This
implies that the education Minister saw it fit to act against
allodds.

Student teachers are now getting a meagre $32 800.
A figure which isjust enough to cater for transport. I don’t know how we are
expected tosurvive considering that we are getting a housing allowance of $4
900 when asingle room in the high-density suburbs now costs $15 000 to
rent.

Given that we will be teaching just like any other
teacher (qualifiedor temporary) it is unjustified for us to be left in the
cold.

Can the minister explain why student teachers are still
getting suchan amount when the recommendations made to the Public Service
Commissionrevealed that the salaries should be increased to about $146 000
.

THE multi-billion dollar massive refurbishment and
upgrading of thecountry's four major airports is reportedly proceeding well
with work havingalready been completed at some of the sites.

The
refurbishment which is being undertaken by the Civil Aviation Authorityof
Zimbabwe is expected to cost $800 billion (US$100 million) at theexisting
exchange rate.

The chief executive of the Civil Aviation Authority of
Zimbabwe, Mr KarikogaKaseke said this week that the refurbishment and
upgrading process wasexpected to be completed by the year 2006.

"Work
is going on at the Harare International Airport, Joshua Mqabuko
Nkomo,Victoria Falls and Buffalo Range airports.

"The whole exercise
is going on smoothly and significant progress has beenrecorded despite the
critical shortage of cement, diesel, bitumen andparaffin," he
said.

Already, the concrete pavement at the Harare International Airport
has beenrefurbished to the tune of $430 million.

The refurbishment,
which started early this year, was completed in June.

Mr Kaseke said the
refurbishment of the airport's runway was also going
onsmoothly.

Progress

"Work is currently in progress at the
site. A fifth of the runway hasalready been covered. The refurbishment of
the runaway, which is expected tocost $21,8 billion, will be completed in
November 2004," he said.

Mr Kaseke said work on rehabilitating the
approach lights at the airport hasalready been completed.

He added
that new lights would be installed by September 15.

On progress at Joshua
Mqabuko Nkomo Airport, Mr Kaseke said foundation worksand excavations for
the piles and beams have already been completed.

"Concreting of the
foundation is in progress and the contractor is workingon the first floor
beams," he said.

The upgrading of the JM Nkomo Airport that will cost $8
billion will becompleted in October 2004.

Apart from the expansion of
the terminal building, the project also involvesthe upgrading of the car
park and associated landside roads.

Mr Kaseke said work had already
started at the Victoria Falls Airport.

The airport's terminal building
will be upgraded and a new runway will beconstructed at Victoria
Falls.

The whole exercise will be completed in 2006 is expected to cost
at least$51 billion.

The apron and taxiway rehabilitation works at
Buffalo Range airport werealso complete while the department of roads had
completed the topographicaland soil surveys and was clearing the area to be
extended.

The project, which would involve the expansion of the runway to
cater forcritical aircrafts like the Boeing 737 will cost $7,5
billion.

Mr Kaseke dismissed reports that several airlines had withdrawn
from thecountry due to poor state of the Harare International Airport
runway.

Best

"Harare airport runway is still one of the best in
the world. It is utterlymisleading for some to suggest that the withdrawals
of airlines fromZimbabwe had something to do with the state of the
runway.

"Lufthansa stopped flying into Zimbabwe in 2000, Qantas in 2000
and AirFrance in 1997. Not even a single official from the respective
airlinesraised a complaint about the runway. The reason for their withdrawal
hadnothing to do with CAAZ facilities," he said.

Mr Kaseke said
several international airlines were still passing through theHarare
International Airport to drop off passengers.

"In fact we are gearing
ourselves for more business. There are indicationsthat the number of flights
into the country will increase in the nearfuture.

"The national
airline has re-commenced flights to Bulawayo, Victoria Falls,Lusaka and
Lilongwe while South African Airways, the biggest regionalcarrier has
increased flights from South Africa to Victoria Falls
andHarare.

"British Airways has indicated that it will be increasing
it flights intoHarare and other carriers have shown interest in flying back
into Zimbabwe.All these developments are signs of recovery and not
collapse," he said.

Government directed the Civil Aviation Authority to
upgrade the country'sairports as part of efforts to revive the tourism
industry.

Zimbabwe's main opposition has slammed what it called an attempt
byPresident Robert Mugabe's government to manipulate food aid handouts
tomillions of hungry people for political gain. However, the United
Nations'food aid agency said the government had not yet enforced the new
policy thatwould see village heads and state authorities taking over from
aid agenciesin distributing food.

Mugabe's government appealed in
July for more help to stave off loomingstarvation. The country needs 350 000
tonnes of food aid before June 2004,and aid agencies say 5.5 million people
will need handouts by the end ofthis year.

The opposition Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) said it was concerned bythe new policy, which it
argued would leave food distribution in the handsof officials loyal to
Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party. "The announcementrevokes a previous
commitment that allowed donor agencies to distribute foodaid independently
(and) betrays a potentially sinister political agenda,"said Renson Gasela,
MDC's shadow minister for agriculture. "By manipulatingthe food aid
distribution process...ZANU-PF would put in jeopardy the wholehumanitarian
relief programme in Zimbabwe. Donors would cut their aid to thecountry
leaving millions of ordinary Zimbabweans facing the very real threatof
starvation," he added in a statement.

ZANU-PF officials were not
available for comment today, but last year thegovernment rejected
accusations that it had hijacked food aid programmes insome of Zimbabwe's
hungriest districts to benefit ruling party supporters.Luis Clemens, a
United Nations World Food Programme spokesperson, said todaythe agency,
which runs the largest food donation programme to Zimbabwe, hadmet July
Moyo, the Social Welfare Minister and architect of the newdistribution plan,
to seek clarification on the policy.

"The directive has not been
implemented yet, apparently because localgovernment authorities are also
seeking clarification from the ministrybecause the system for the last 18
months has largely been working well,'Clemens said. Zimbabwe's food
shortages are one aspect of a deepeningeconomic crisis plaguing the southern
African country. However, Mugaberejects charges that his seizure of white
owned commercial farms forredistribution to landless blacks has partly
contributed to reduced domesticfood output over the past three years,
blaming the crisis solely ondrought. - Reuters

The Minister of
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Cde PatrickChinamasa, yesterday
reiterated that Zanu-PF preferred direct talks with theMDC that should
result in the establishment of common national valuesbinding the two
parties.

Cde Chinamasa, who is also the Zanu-PF secretary for legal
affairs, toldjournalists attending a United Nations Development Programme
workshop thatalthough there was no clarity on the objectives to be achieved
throughdialogue Zanu-PF was supportive of the resumption of
talks.

He said the generality of Zimbabweans supported the resumption
of dialogue.

"Direct contacts by their nature will help get to know each
other better anddemystify a lot of things. I am sure the contacts, when
established, willcontribute immensely towards the easing of tension," said
Cde Chinamasa.

He said Zanu-PF and the MDC were committed to talks and
there was a lot ofgood will from both parties to pull the country out of
current problems itis facing. The minister said the talks should not be
hurried as was the casewith the last aborted talks between the two parties.
He said the talksshould guarantee a successful conclusion, and should not
fail.

He said the MDC should not seek to enter into dialogue with a
hidden agendato achieve an imposed solution or to achieve what it failed to
achievethrough an attempted assassination, stayaways, mass actions and
so-calledfinal pushes.

The minister said the primary concern of the
dialogue should be aimed atascertaining and probing common ground for shared
core values.

Some of the core values include the respect of the country's
symbols andinstitutions such as the national flag, national anthem,
constitution, thepresidency and the judiciary. He said both parties should
be able toacknowledge the contributions of the Second Chimurenga to the
liberation ofZimbabwe, adherence to the democratic principles and
recognition of theirreversibility of the land reform programme.

"All
political parties should be nationalistic in spirit, in character
andphilosophies. They should espouse policies and manifestos that
promotenational interests," Cde Chinamasa said.

He called upon the
MDC to campaign for the lifting of sanctions and that nocommon ground could
be found with a party that was the footstool of Blairand Bush.

Cde
Chinamasa, said the two parties needed no mediation as they were alreadyin
contact.

The churches, led by the Zimbabwe Council of Churches president
BishopSebastian Bakare, have been trying to mediate in the dialogue
betweenZanu-PF and the MDC. However, Cde Chinamasa said the problems
affecting thecountry were centred between Zanu-PF and the MDC, and not the
churches.

"I don't see any reason why someone should come and tell me
that I want thetwo of you to start talking. Clearly, I don't see the role of
the church,"he said.

Imagine you are a pastor and you are preaching to a church of
about athousand people when suddenly four or five men in black suits and
sunglassesslither in. Suddenly there is a hushed silence as the men walk
down theaisle to take seats at strategic places inside the church building.
Even the"Amens" from the cheerful women at the corner and the raucous old
man closerto one of the intruders cease and you suddenly find yourself
having tosuddenly change your sermon. Just before the men in black walked
in, youwere talking about the political mayhem in your country and how
everybodymust love their neighbours and enemies. Now you have to change your
sermonand talk about angels and how they spoke to Mary and the other women
in thebible. And everyone understands. And you know doing otherwise would
mean astint behind bars or worse still torture and
death.

This is the situation that the Church in
Zimbabwe finds itself in.According to a delegation of Zimbabwean pastors who
are in Botswana "to seeksolidarity" with their brothers and sisters,
President Robert Mugabe'sgovernment has become so paranoid that church
ministers are monitored on a24 hour basis by security intelligence. Members
of the Central IntelligenceOrganisation (CIO) who are identifiable by their
smart black suits and darksunglasses have been intimidating the pastors
after they started talkingabout political issues.

Things became
worse after a multi-denominational organization ofchurch ministers, the
Zimbabwe National Pastors Conference's (ZNPC) decidedto start advocating for
political changes.

"As the church, we have realised that unless we
stand up and speakabout the situation in our country, we will only get
worse. We thereforeneed to join hands with the rest of the civil society and
call for order.The church is the last available space," a member of the
delegation Rev NoahMadzikatire told Batswana clergymen at the Botswana
Christian Council'sTshwaragano House on Wednesday.

"As the
church we long for a time when there will be political andtribal tolerance
in Zimbabwe, we long for the respect of the rule of law. Welong for good
governance and leadership and annulment of repressive laws,and we want to
see government working with the church," said Madzikatire.

It is
especially Mugabe's government's refusal to appreciate the roleof the church
that is worrisome, he said. The government's lack ofappreciation is shown by
the arrest and torture of the clergy.

"Twenty three pastors from
different denominations were arrested inFebruary while we were on our way to
present a petition to the PoliceCommissioner. As the church, we felt the
police have become partisan andneeded to be reminded that they are there to
serve the nation without regardfor party affiliation," he said. The torture
and intimidation would howevernot deter the church in its mission of
condemning wickedness, commendinggoodness, and offering help to those who
have been traumatized.

"For a long time the church has watched
silently as things went thewrong way. But we would not like our country to
plunge further into violencewhich will then be followed by a peace accord
some fifteen years later, whenmany people would have died, so we have
decided to take our place asmediators," another Pastor Angelimo Mugayi
said.

Already the ZNPC have met with Zimbabwe's main political
parties, theruling ZANU-PF and the MDC to lay some groundwork for
talks.

"The MDC have already submitted their position paper, but
thegovernment seems to be buying time," he said. He added that the
governmentneeds to be put pressurised to act and that is why they are
seeking supportfrom Botswana.

"We believe if you people could
join hands with us and speak to theZimbabwean government, there would be a
change for the better," said Mugayi.

He said the Church in Botswana
and the SADC region needed to realisethat quite diplomacy has failed
Zimbabwe and its people. All who watched insilent diplomacy would also
become liable before God, he said.

"We expect his fellow Presidents
to clearly articulate on issues, tobe able to denounce repressive laws. We
expect SADC governments tocommunicate their displeasure to Robert Mugabe,
privately and publicly," hesaid.

The ZNPC have already visited
other SADC countries including Zambia,Malawi, and South Africa.

Communities divided
arbitrarily from each other in the past will be amongthe beneficiaries of
new approach

A THRONG of international delegates will deliberate on the
future of manythings related to protected areas and people at the World
Parks Congress tobe held in Durban next month.

One particular theme
to receive considerable attention is the issue oftransfrontier conservation
areas, or what elsewhere are also called peaceparks. Once a patchwork of
protected areas lining the borders of southernAfrican states, conservation
areas are being knitted together as onelandscape, through fencing and the
closure of borders.

Peace parks will be like the conservation parks we
are used to, with animalsin and people out. But they will dwarf a normal
park.

The vast tracts of land being fenced off have been a source of
spiritualconnection, kinship links, mixing of different people across
borders, andagroclimatic conditions that were breeding places of unique
repositories ofhuman culture and history.

One need only consider the
Kalaghadi, the recently signed Ais-Ais treatybetween SA and Namibia, and
Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park, which werethe pathways where different
people of a varying ethnic and linguisticbackgrounds met. These pathways,
where different people interfaced and whichhold dear memories, are about to
be effaced by the new icons ofconservation.

In addition, a range of
dependencies has developed from the use of naturalresources by rural
communities living adjacent to or within demarcatedtransfrontier
conservation areas. These dependencies are important safetynets and means of
livelihood for those who live between cash andnoncash-based
economies.

In times of great economic upheaval unfavourable trade, high
inflation,unemployment and lack of investment in the formal economy poor
people becomewholly dependent for survival on what little they can get from
naturalresources and available work opportunities, as the luxury of
remittances orstate grants and social welfare schemes are eroded because of
gloomyeconomic prospects.

The closest comparison of the effects of
transfrontier conservation areas onlocal economies, people, regions and
perhaps states, is that of large dams.

While certainly with transfrontier
conservation areas one will see moreecological benefits (even this is
disputed by some), on the socioeconomicscorecard they are likely to fall
miserably lower on developmenteffectiveness than dams.

The comparison
with large dams is apt, as transfrontier conservation areasby their nature
have to command large tracts of land if they are to besuccessful. The shift
from one landuse type to another holds certainopportunity cost for a range
of potential investors and users. This is notwithout pain and risk to poor
people who in general bear the largestnonbeneficial burden of protected
areas.

To take the example of Gonarezhou (Zimbabwe-Mozambique), people
will have tobe relocated to make way for fences and animals. Not only are
people beingdisplaced, but so are long-established networks and forms of
adaptiveorganisational capacity, and access to a range of natural resources
fromwhich livelihoods and welfare are secured. This entire edifice of
livelihoodis dislodged, and often not quantified or spoken about by
developmentpractitioners and promoters of transfrontier conservation areas.
This is sobecause practitioners focus on physical assets, not "soft"
assets.

Rural communities that have been displaced are given less secure
forms oflivelihood often a paltry handout from donor funds or a promised
Eden fromecotourism. Seldom are these options really viable economically, as
oftenthey are mere mirages to silence the rumbling discontent of the victims
ofdevelopment speak.

A simple back-of-the-matchbox calculation will
show that the compensationthat can be offered to displaced people cannot
match the assets that havebeen built up over generations.

"Soft"
assets that are discounted the most are: social capital, customaryrights or
informal rights over resources, institutional capacity, knowledgeand systems
of production. In cases where people are not being displacedother things
stand to be lost. These include the historical rights of accessto resources
such as water, wild foods, medicinal plants, land for grazingand
cross-border trade and migration. Also, residents may face costs notincurred
before, such as for special veterinary precautions to avoid thespread of
diseases such as bovine TB from cattle to wildlife.

Loss of income or
livelihood can also result from cross-border hasslesthrough stricter border
controls that will limit informal trade and barter.

If large dams are an
apt comparison, then transfrontier conservation areastalwarts would do a lot
better if they were to study the World Commissionreport on dams. The report
takes a rights-based approach to development, andfocuses on defining a
matrix to assess peace parks' developmenteffectiveness.

At present,
neither a rights-based approach nor a development effectivenessscorecard to
measure the performance of transfrontier conservation areas hasbeen
established. The scorecard would allow a development effectivenessindex to
be generated for peace parks.

Factors that need to be measured are the
very promises and values upon whichthe areas are built. They are:
ecological, local economic development,cultural, organisational, peace and
security. Developing a model ofdevelopment effectiveness for transfrontier
conservation areas increaseslevels of transparency, accountability, and
provides a better measure of thevalue of the investment.

It also
allows a sounder sampling of risk, rather than the random andidealised
ramblings of proponents. It allows a more robust cost benefit forsuch
conservation areas to be formulated in the current cloud of
one-sidedstatements of benefits by proponents.

For now, transfrontier
conservation areas exist on the pedestal of iconicimagination and political
goodwill in some quarters. They will soon have toshow more than a golden
nameplate of a prominent patron.

For peace parks to achieve appropriate
development they cannot rely onpaltry promises. They must complement and
support marginal people againstrisk and vulnerability from insecure economic
and political environments.Both the envisaged displacement and further curbs
on those reliant onnatural resources stand to be worsened by often
dismissive attitudes towardscommunities.

The adaptive strategies of
the poor come about only through building stronglocal institutions and
capacity to deal with and negotiate through conflictsover rights and
benefits. Secondly, development with integrity and meaningis that which
focuses on nurturing local entrepreneurial capacity
andingenuity.

This is more lasting than bold pledges and
irresponsibly dangling cash fromdonors and investors. Sustainability has
never been fulfilled by externalwelfare-based models of development, but
rather by self-motivation,confidence and having the capacity to take care of
one's self byparticipating freely in public life and seeking
opportunity.

If we are to learn anything from large dams, it is that
development that isnot well managed leads to more inequity, and irreparable
social damage.Peace parks, rather than being a source of peace, can easily
be transformedinto icons of social discontent.

22 August 2003Zimbabwe: SADC Leaders Should Place Zimbabwe on the Agenda of
Their SummitOn the eve of the annual Summit of the Southern African
DevelopmentCommunity (SADC) in Tanzania, Amnesty International is calling on
SADCleaders to jointly and publicly express their concern regarding
Zimbabwe'sdeepening human rights crisis.

Zimbabwe: Rights under
siegeAn Amnesty International report

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Zimbabwe"We acknowledge and commend the on-going efforts of some African
leaders inpromoting human rights on the continent. However, the situation in
Zimbabwehas yet to be adequately addressed. While the July Summit of the
AfricanUnion was an important occasion at which to discuss the
deterioratingsituation in Zimbabwe, regrettably, African leaders failed to
put Zimbabweon the agenda. This was a missed opportunity to constructively
raise humanrights concerns with the Government of Zimbabwe," Amnesty
Internationalsaid.

For example, following a mass national strike
in June 2003, approximately800 supporters of the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) werearrested, two people reportedly died and
approximately 150 people wereinjured in attacks by supporters of the ruling
Zimbabwe African NationalUnion - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), members of the
Zimbabwe National Army andthe police. MDC member Tichaona Kaguru was
brutally attacked by police andarmy officers with whips, rubber batons and
sticks and subsequently diedfrom his injuries on the second day of the
strike.

"Tichaona Kaguru's case illustrates the widespread human rights
violationstaking place in Zimbabwe and the extent to which the government
will go tobludgeon dissent," the organization said.

"SADC leaders and
Zimbabwe's neighbours have a critical role to play indemonstrating their
commitment to the respect for human rights in SouthernAfrica. They should
include Zimbabwe as a specific point on the agenda ofthe SADC Summit and to
bring all possible pressure to bear on the Governmentof Zimbabwe to respect
and protect the fundamental human rights of itscitizens," Amnesty
International urged.

Background

More recently, President
Mugabe announced at the opening of the fourthsession of Parliament in July
2003 that the government would introduce newlegislation governing the
operations of Non-Governmental Organizations(NGOs). Amnesty International is
concerned that as with legislationintroduced in the past two years, the
government will use this new NGO Billto silence dissent and further restrict
the right to freedom of association.

In May, 2003 Amnesty International
published a report entitled Zimbabwe:Rights under siege (AI Index: AFR
46/012/2003) which examined how theZimbabwean authorities, in particular,
members of the police force are usinglegislation such as the Public Order
and Security Act, to severely restrictthe rights of all Zimbabweans to
freedom of expression, assembly andassociation.

An MDC
member says military personnel have been looking for him at theworkplace
after he participated in an MDC road-show in Harare, Wednesday.The MDC held
the road-show to campaign for the Harare Central by-election.It was the
first time in three years that the opposition has been allowed tocampaign
freely in Harare. MDC Parliamentarians and supporters were out infull force
campaigning for their candidate. This man says he had beeninterrogated by
the red-bereted soldiers during the road-show but had to runaway from his
workplace when they allegedly came looking for him today.